Dark
by BenFiremonk
Summary: When Kazuto and Sugu got trapped in the death game called Sword Art Online, they vowed to never keep secrets from each other. But that changed January 1st, 2023 when Kazuto is forced into a guild named Laughing Coffin. Just how far will he go to protect his sister?
1. The Beginning

_December 31, 2022_

I was lying on the ground looking up at the stars, it was three hours till New Years and it was cold as hell even with a coat on. I was too busy think about my aunt and uncle and how much trouble, we must have cause them by getting trapped in SAO. This would be Sugu and I's first New Years without the rest of the family, and man do I miss Turkey dinner we had around this time.

"DAMNIT!, Dinner!" I yelled as I jumped off the ground. I start running towards the town, but heard the sound of a sword skill activating. I rolled out of the way and drew my sword from my hip.

"Damn, I knew I should have just stabbed you from behind. Would have made killing you a lot easier." The hooded figure said.

I stood up "Morte. I'm getting deja vu, haven't we done this song and dance already...Yeah we did, then ran off with your tail between your legs."

I was too busy taunting, Morte placed his Anneal Blade atop his shoulder, the blade glowed bluish green and seconds later he jumped about 12 feet. When I realized what was happening and react accordingly, Morte was descending from his 12 foot jump. I raised my sword to try and block the attack, then heard a crunching sound and was launched backwards 6 feet. I looked and was shocked to see my sword was broken in half.

 _'Damn, he broke my sword in two and damaged me with just one Sonic Leap. When'd he get so strong?'_

"Maybe after I kill you, I'll kill that young girl you've been hanging around." Morte said with a devilish grin.

I completely lost it, I charged towards him and activated the Senda skill, launching him back. I ripped Morte's sword out of his hand and placed it against his throat. I slowly pushed the blade, causing it to cut into his throat. I was about to kill him, but in my blood lust I was blind to Morte pulling out a teleport crystal and escaping.

"Damnit!" I said, punching the ground.

With him on the loose, I can't take his threat on Sugu lightly. It's my fault she got stuck in SAO, and I promised her that I would get her out of here. I stood up, sheathed Morte's sword and a message popped up in front of me. "Speak of the devil."

 _ **"** OONNNIICCCCHHHHAAANNNN. Where are yyyyooouuuu. **"**_ I could feel my ears bleed while I reading the message.

 _ **"** Be right there. **"**_ I messaged back.

After I got back to town, I sat on a bench in the middle of town and ate some bread. Knowing my sister, she's probably already eaten dinner without me. The peace in the town ended, when I was spotted.

"KAZUTO KIRIGAYA! YOU STOOD ME UP!" I looked over and saw Sugu running towards me, sword drawn. But before I could flee for my life, Sugu swung her sword launching me back a few feet. Sugu ran to me and started hitting me over and over.

"YOU'RE SUPPOSE TO BE HAVING DINNER WITH US, AND YOU'RE EATING BREAD!"

"Looks like Sugu finally found Kirito." Said Klein

"Should we do something?" Asuna said, spectating my beating.

"Nah, let Sugu get it out of her system."

30 seconds later, Sugu finally cooled down and let me stand up.

"Really you two; when Sugu is beating me. INTERVENE!" I shouted. _'Why are my friends so incompetent?'_

After my beating the four of us went to dinner at the nearby restaurant.

"Why were you late?" Sugu asked.

"Well, I was looking at the stars and lost track of time. Then after realizing the time, I got up and was attack by Morte."

"Morte? That jackass that tried to kill you a few weeks ago?" Klein said.

"Yes, the King of Jackasses himself. He cowered when I was gaining the upper hand."

"Do you think he'll come back?" Sugu said.

"No, I think he's learned his lesson."

"But how do you know? What happens if he tries again?" I could hear the concern in Sugu's voice.

"Sugu, it's sweet that you're worried, but he won't try again. Now, can we please finish dinner?"

"But what if-"

"For the love of all that is holy, Sugu! Drop it!" I yelled. Everyone in the restaurant was staring at us. _'Damn.'_ "Sorry everyone." I said to the people in the restaurant.

I stood up and walking out. A few minutes later Klein walked out and sat next to me.

"Don't." I said.

"Funny, I was going to say the same thing to you." Klein said. "Sugu may not be able to see it, but I can instantly tell you're planning on tracking down and killing Morte."

"Actually, I was planning on diving into a dungeon."

"Really?" Klein said, crossing his arms.

"Yes! Besides, I wouldn't even know where to start." I said, standing up.

"Ok fine, I'll just have to trust you." Klein sighed.

"Have some faith." I said walking out of town.

 _An hour later_

I finished clearing the dungeon, but felt like I was being watched. I drew my sword, and prepared for anything.

"There's no need for the sword." A voice behind me said. I turned around and saw a cloaked man with a tattoo under his eye.

"And who might you be?"

"Oh, where are my manners. My name is PoH." He said bowing.

"What do you want PoH?"

"Straight to business. I heard you're looking for someone, a boy named Morte."

"How do know that?" I said contemplating whether to kill him or hear him out.

"I overheard your conversation at the restaurant."

"And so, you've stalked me out of the town?"

"Well, would you rather I had come up to your table, in front of your friends and asked if you wanted help tracking Morte down?" He said.

"I guess you're right. What's the catch?" I said, crossing my arms.

"The catch is, after we find Morte and you get what you want. I might ask for a favor somewhere down the road." PoH said

"I guess that's fair. But how are you going to find him?"

"Well that's rather simple, my friends and I have eyes and ears everywhere. It's very easy to find things out." He said, with an unnerving smile.

We left the dungeon and met up with two other players in black ponchos.

 _'What is this, some sort of poncho guild?'_

"Xa, Johnny, this is the client." PoH said.

The guy with the serious look on his face, stared at me almost with a look of hatred and uncertainty in his eyes.

"This is the client? How is he going to pay us, in candy?" He said.

"The kids going to be on the front lines. In exchange for our help with his problem, he'll do us a favor in the future."

PoH said, taking the Mr. Serious aside while the other man gave me a sadistic stare and smile.

"The name's Johnny Black." He said extending his hand.

There was pure evil in his eyes. What the hell was I getting myself into?

"Kirito." I said, shaking his hand. "So PoH, was it? How are we going to find Morte?"

"Well, you see Morte is like a mercenary and he's worked for us before." PoH said.

"So why are letting me go after him?"

"Morte hasn't been following through on our agreement. We're going to kill ourselves, but then I heard you talking about him at the restaurant."

"So you want me to do your dirty work for you?"

"Basically, yes." PoH replied. "Johnny, go with Xa to get ready. Kid, you're with me."

"Where we going?"

"There's a dense forest nearby. That's where we're going to ambush him." We made our way to the forest, where PoH messaged Morte to meet.

 _5 mins later._

"Hey PoH, you got another job for me?" Morte said, as he arrived at the meeting point.

"No, but I do. I said walking out from behind a tree. The target is the royal ass, named Morte."

"Smart way to draw me out. How'd you get to PoH?" He said.

"He came to me. Asked if I wanted revenge." I said as I drew my sword. "Draw your weapon, unlike you, I have the courtesy to let you defend yourself."

I opened menu to send him a dual invite, but Morte charged towards me and attacked. _'Exactly as planned. Now I don't need to worry about turning orange.'_ I attacked him at full throttle, activating almost every sword skill I knew. We fought until Morte fell to his knees, his health in the red.

"Stop please, I don't want to die. I shouldn't have attacked you and threatened your sister." He begged.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you live." I said, I swung my sword into his shoulder, removed it, and then dug it back in cutting him in half.

I heard clapping from behind one of the trees, and PoH emerged.

"PoH? I thought you left." I said.

"I must say, that was glorious fight. Now, let's get down to business." PoH snapped his fingers and half a dozen players in ponchos emerged from behind the trees. Two of them were holding an unconscious Sugu and Asuna.

"Leafa? Asuna? PoH, what the hell is going on? This wasn't part of the deal!"

"The deals changed. After seeing that merciless kill, I want you to join us."

"No way, I'd die before joining a group of murderers."

"Then I'll have the girls killed." I drew my sword, but was stabbed in the back by one of the members, and fell to the ground.

"Onii-chan!" Sugu yelled. She had woken up and witnessed me get stabbed.

"Well, look who's awake." PoH said walking over to Sugu. "But you need to sleep again." He said, punching her so hard, he knocked her out.

"You bastard." I groaned.

PoH stomped on my face, knocking me out. I woke to the sound of a blood boiling scream.

"Wha, Where am I?"

"Congratulations, you're dead." PoH said.

"What?" I said, still disorientated.

"You said, you'd rather die before joining a group of murderers. Well as far as your sister and friends are concerned, you're dead. If you try to contact them or disobey me, and I'll have them killed before you can say 'Uh oh'" I went to draw my sword, but my sword wasn't on my back and my coat was missing.

"Looking for this?" I looked over and saw Johnny with his sadistic smile, holding my sword. _'I don't have a choice, if I can't protect my friends from PoH and his guild. I can protect them by joining his guild.'_

"Fine, I'll join you. As long as you promise me, you'll not hurt my sister."


	2. The Cats

"To Kirito!" The guild said, as they raised their glasses.

"Oh please, guys it was nothing." I said.

"Nothing? You saved us, if you hadn't been in that dungeon, we'd all be dead. We owe you our lives."

"You don't owe me anything."

"No but we do, if there's anything you want, anything at all."

"Well I have been looking for a guild, I mean soloing is fun and all but it gets lonely."

"Say no more, we'd be happy to have you join our guild. Let me introduce everyone, I'm Keita, the scaredy cat here is Sachi. And uh, the rest are NPC's."

"Wait, what?"

"Ha, I'm just kidding."

"Heh, how about I get us more drinks."

"You know what Kirito, we're gonna head back to our rooms." Keita said. I followed the Cats upstairs. "Sachi can show you to your room."

Everyone went into their rooms except for Sachi.

"So Sachi, back in the tavern, does Keita always tease you like that?"

"Yeah, but it's because we're neighbors. Keita has always teased, for as long as I can remember."

"Hmm ok, just curious. Goodnight Sachi."

"Wait, Kirito...You know what, it's nothing. Nevermind."

Before I could say anything, Sachi disappeared into her room.

 _A month later_

We were in a field fighting a praying mantis, Sachi was in front but she froze.

"Sachi get back, I'll handle this." I said, switching with her, blocking the mantis's arm and cutting it off. "Tetsuo, switch!" We switched out and Tetsuo killed the praying mantis with one hit.

"Sorry guys, I just froze. I'm so useless." She said.

"You're not useless Sachi, you're just not ready yet, there's nothing to be ashamed of." I said comforting her. We went somewhere safe for lunch; Ducker was pretending to choke out Keita. I watched them having fun with each other. They seemed like really good people with good intentions. After killing a few more monsters we went back our HQ in Taft.

"Good news guys, after our latest hunts we're much closer to our goal of buying a house. Or we could use the col and upgrade our equipment." Keita said.

"Yeah, Sachi could use some better equipment." Sasamaru said.

"No, I'm good with the equipment I've got." Sachi said.

"Come on Sachi. You can't let Kirito be on the front forever." Keita said.

Sachi gave me a sad look, like she was apologizing.

"It's fine Sachi, I don't mind being on the front. Change can be hard sometimes; it takes a while to get used to it."

"Kirito and I both believe in you Sachi. Now it's late guys, so let's get some sleep."

 _June 16th_

I left the Inn to go and farm a bit. I walked up the hill to the Wolf Plains, and to my surprise I saw the human punching bag with a red headband. I hid behind a stone structure on top of the hill, and activated my hiding skill just in case. I think he might have seen me as I heard some footsteps coming up the hill.

"Boss, it's all clear here, we can move on! Everything alright?" One of Klein's friends said.

"Yeah everything's fine. Just thought I saw someone." Klein said standing about three feet away from me. When they left, I came out of hiding and walked to the Plains.

"You're late, kid." Said a voice.

"Sorry, boss. I'm still trying to get them to _really_ trust me. Give some more time." I said turning around to face the voice.

"You've been undercover for months. Don't tell me you've gotten attached."

"I _haven't_ gotten attached." I said angrily. "Give me a week. If it's not done by then, you can kill me."

PoH was slient. Whether it was because I raised my voice or to really think about giving me an extension.

"You have till next Friday, and no later."

PoH walked off. I made my way back to town and used the teleport gate to return to Taft. Then I got a message from Keita.

 **"** _Hey it's Keita. Sachi ran off and hasn't come back yet, we're heading to the dungeon now. Please let me know if you find her._ **"**

"Damn."

I ran to the inn and activated my searching skill, and followed the footsteps under a bridge. Sachi sat hugging her legs under a invisibility cloak.

"Sachi, are you ok?"

"Kirito?" She said removing her cloak. "How'd you find me?"

"I'm an excellent tracker." I sat down next to her. "So why'd you run away, everyone worried about you."

There was a long silence, before Sachi spoke.

"Hey Kirito, let's run away together."

"Run away? From where?"

"From this town, the Cats, monsters... From SAO."

"You don't mean commit suicide?"

"Ha, that's not such a bad idea... Sorry, that was a lie. If I had the guts to die I wouldn't be hiding in town. I'm actually afraid of dying."

Tears started forming under her eyes.

"What's the point of this, why do we have to die in this goddamn game. What's the meaning of this?"

I tried to comfort her while she cried on my shoulder. I didn't know what to do here, I've never had a girl cry on my shoulder before. But then I thought of something.

"Did I tell you that I had a sister?"

"No, you didn't."

"Well, we don't really talk much"

"What happened?"

"I told her the truth of our relationship. You see, my parents died in a car crash, well my dad did, and my mom died during childbirth. Her sister took me in, and a year later, gave birth to her daughter, my cousin. When I told Sugu the truth, she hit me. Repeatedly."

"That's awful."

"I guess I kind of deserved it... We should probably should head back before the others freak."

 _Later that night._

I was going over my inventory, when I heard a knock on my door.

"It's open!" I said.

Sachi walked in and I stood up. I could even react before Sachi wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. I lifted her up and put on the bed.

 _June 22th_

I knocked on Keita's door around six.

"Kirito? Come on in, what's up?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to _Talk_!"

I hit Keita with _Senda_ , knocking him back. I closed his door and grabbed a pillow.

"Kirito? What are you doing?"

I kicked him in the head and smothered him with the pillow. He squirmed, turning to break free, but to no avail. He stopped moving and pixelated. I slipped out of his room and went downstairs to the tavern. About a half an hour later, the rest of the guild came down.

"Where's Keita? He didn't answer his door." Ducker said.

"He decided to leave early to buy the house. I wouldn't bother messaging him."

"Ok, so what do you guys want to do while we wait?" Tetsuo asked.

"How about we go into a dungeon and try to get some extra money?" Ducker said.

We were walking down the hall of a 27th floor dungeon. I looked over a Sachi, who had a scared look on her face. I placed my hand on her shoulder.

"It's ok Sachi, as long as I'm here nothing bad will happen. You won't die."

"Hey guys, look." Ducker said, placing his hand on a wall. Which caused the wall to open. The Cats walked into the hidden room, and I threw a pick into each of their backs.

"What the? Very funny Kirito, this is a very good joke." Ducker said.

I drew my sword and immediately stabbed him in the back, until he died. Sachi screamed and cried.

"What the hell, Kirito!" Tetsuo yelled.

I picked up Tetsuo's mace and crushed Sasamaru's head with it, then did the same to Tetsuo. Their skulls split open like Glenn's. Each Cat I killed, caused Sachi to cry louder. I dropped the mace to moved toward her.

"Why are you doing this?! We trusted you, I loved you!"

"Because I feel like it."

I wrapped my hands around her throat and strangled her. Sachi tried to fight back, clawing and trying to poke my eyes out. but after awhile, she stopped moving and died. As the sole survivor of the guild, all of the items they had on them were transferred into my inventory, and the guild inventory and symbol disappeared. I slowly walked to the door, hauling all the equipment, ready to message someone to meet me. And that's when I found PoH and some others walking down the hall.

"Your times up, kid. Where's the guild?"

"Dead."

"What?"

"They're dead. I just killed them."

I transferred all the Black Cat items to a surprised PoH.

"How's that for being attached?" I said as I was walked away.

* * *

For anyone curious: I posted these chapters just to see what would happen. I'll probably restart the Dark story if people really want me to. There should be a poll set up from months ago, I forgot to mention.


	3. The Assassin

I returned to the cave after completing my fifth dungeon contract, (killing a player while they're weak and in a dungeon so not to attract attention) I walked into PoH's "office".

"Ah kid, you're back. Is she dead?" PoH asked.

"As requested, the opera is going to need a new singer." I replied.

"Good, I've got another contract."

"Another one? That's new. Who's the target?"

"The client didn't say. 'Just send one of your assassins and I'll give them the targets name'."

"Well I guess I'm off to meet the client. Where'd he say to meet?"

"Floor nineteen, Hill of the Cross. And kid, if you get a bad feeling. Kill the client." PoH said.

"You got it boss."

 _Hill of the Cross_

When I arrived at the Hill of the Cross, I saw a tall man in a top hat.

"Hello, I'm Grimlock. Pleased to make your acquaintance." He said. When I approached him. I noticed the Golden Apple for his guild symbol.

"Tell me what you want, before I lob off your head." I said, drawing my sword.

"No need for unnecessary violence. I asked you here to kill the swordswoman Griselda. As soon as possible." Grimlock said.

 _'This guy is desperate.'_

"How much are you paying?"

"I'll give you twelve hundred fifty cor."

"What did she do to you?!"

"She killed someone I loved. My wife." I could tell it was a sore subject for him.

"I'll take the contract. Where do I find her?"

"She went off to the front lines to sell off a ring, she'll be wearing a white and green tunic and a cape with a hood. Here's a picture to help you find her. After it's done, meet me back here for your payment." Grimlock said.

I took the picture and walked away.

"What do you think?" I said once I was far enough away.

Philia, the shadow PoH placed on me since I was forced into LC, walked out from behind a tree and came up next to me.

"I've got a bad feeling about him." She said.

"How so?"

"I don't know. He just seems off to me."

"I guess I'll just have to trust your feminine intuition."

"So what's your plan, Kirito?"

"Simple, you're gonna make yourself useful, and go into town to get the target's attention. We'll meet in the forest just outside of town."

 _13 minutes later_

I stood in the field where we planned our rendezvous. Philia came running towards me with the brunette in tow.

"Here you go." She said.

"Perfect. Head back to base; I'll take it from here."

"What's going on here?" Griselda said.

"It's nothin' personal, just business." I said as I put on my mask.

"I don't want any trouble; I'm just trying to sell this ring." She said, slowly reaching for her sword.

"Sorry, I have to-" I was cut off by her drawing her sword and activating _Vorpal Strike_. I jumped out of the way as she sailed past me, I activated _Rage Spike_ and when I was in the middle of it, her _Vorpal Strike_ ended and she was on her knees. She rolled out of the way and struck me in the back, when the sword skill ended.

 _'Bitch!'_

I swung heavily at her, but she blocked it with her shield, she then pushed me with her shield and got a swing at me. I blocked it with my sword and we both pushed towards each other in a clash.

"Please just give up, make this easier for yourself." I said, grunting.

"I'm not going to let you kill me." She said, pushing harder against me.

I punched her in the stomach, ending the clash and causing her to bend over. Then I activated _Gengetsu_ kicking her in the head and launching her back. I could tell she was trying to move but she was still dazed. I grabbed her shield arm and cleaved it off with my sword.

"AAAAAGGGAGHHHH!" She screamed.

I pulled her up onto her feet and activated _Horizontal Square_. Slashing around her forming a square, I aimed the final attack at her heart, killing her. But as my final strike hit Griselda, I noticed her guild symbol. A golden apple, same as Grimlock's.

 **SNAP!**

I looked towards the sound and saw a player sticking his head out from behind a tree, he bolted towards town the instant I looked at him, and I chased after him. I threw a pick at him but missed, he was getting closer to Jaileum so I started throwing picks until I had no more picks left. Three of my picks hit him in the back, he fell down as the paralysis took effect, and slid into the town's safezone removing the paralysis.

 _'Damnit he made it inside the town. There's no telling what he saw, what he knows. Wait...'_

It was then I had the worse idea in the world. I continued running, straight into the town.

 _'What the hell am I thinking, this is so stupid? Although, the city guards are slow as hell_ _.'_

The witness started screaming, calling out for help. There's nothing I can to slow him down, I can only hope that he'll tire himself out running. I looked behind me and saw a mob of players, and city guards chasing after me. I looked in front of me and three Dragon Alliance members walked around a corner.

 _'Damn, just my luck. I can't go forward or back, and I sure as hell can't go through. My only option is above, from there_ _I'll have a vantage and might be able to give my pursuers the slip.'_

I altered my course and ran up the wall of a nearby building and pushed off it jumping between two buildings. I could hear the angry mob gasping in shock. When I landed on the roof I continued chasing the witness around the corner.

 _'How the hell does he have this much stamina? I'll never catch him at this rate... Unless.'_

I opened my menu and grabbed a dagger and rope I use to bind targets. After I tied the rope around the hilt of the dagger, I jumped into a beam in between buildings and threw the dagger. It wrapped around the witnesses neck, I tugged on the rope knocking him off his feet, and I started reeling him in, as I lifted him off the ground and he started kicking and squirming. I leaned back and used his weight to keep me from falling off.

 _'I may not be able to kill him here. But I can make him suffer, give him a taste of what could, would happen if he says_ _anything.'_

After a while he stopped squirming, I heard the death sound effect, and fell backwards.

"OH MY GOD! He killed him, he killed him in a safezone." said a bystander.

"The town's aren't safe anymore." Said another bystander.

' _How the hell did that happen? I - The Suicide Code! I forgot!.'_

I looked around everyone was stilling processing what had happened. I stood up and made my escape while everyone was still shocked. I made my way to the 19th floor to solve the mystery of the guild symbol.

"You have some explaining to do Grimlock." I said.

"Did you complete the contract?"

"Yeah, I did, but while I was fighting her. I noticed she had the same guild symbol as you."

"I... Um...I." Grimlock stuttered.

"I don't like being lied to. And because of that, my payment has doubled. Now, why did you send me to kill one of your guild members?"

"Griselda was a part of our guild. Then she killed my wife, lured her somewhere secluded and drugged her. She then left my Yuuko to be killed by monsters. But nobody in the guild believed me." There was silence for a moment.

"Now you see if you told me that, then everything would be fine and dandy. But since you lied about two things, I want something else."

"I don't have any more money to give you." Grimlock said.

"Fine, then give me the ring."

"Ring?"

"The ring she was trying to sell. Since she's in your guild, when she died any and all unequipped items would have been sent to your guilds shared inventory." Grimlock was silent for a moment.

"Fine." He said, opening his menu.

"Don't even think about scamming me. You don't want to feel the wraith of Laughing Coffin."

Grimlocks hands started shaking as he transferred over the ring. I inspected the ring. Increases wearers agility by 20.

"Pleasure doing business with you." I said walking.


	4. Man in Black

I sprinted down the road, rain hitting my face. Someone sent two criminals to kill Sugu, and I have a feeling who it was.

"Come on baby, show us the goods." Said a voice.

"Piss off." Said Sugu.

I heard a sword being drawn and I ran towards the sound. When I got there Sugu was in the middle of the two guys with her sword drawn. One of the guys grabbed her from behind, restraining her as the other walked up to her and raised his hand across his face.

 _'No you don't, you bastard'_

I threw my grapple, wrapping it around his legs and pulled. He screamed as I start reeling him in, and once he was close I drove my sword through his face. I couldn't risk blowing my cover so I threw one of my picks into Sugu's leg, paralyzing her. After that, the only person left to deal with was the assailant. Who I made short work of by using grapple to to reel him in like I did his friend. When he was close, I used the end of the rope in my hands and tied it around his around his neck. His friend, the one with the sword in his face died, as I untied and threw the rope over a tree branch.

"Oh god please. Don't do this, have mercy!" He wailed.

Just as I grabbed the rope, Sugu managed to pull out an antidote crystal. So I pulled the rope, lifting him in the air by the throat and I stomped on the bottom of the dagger pinning it to the ground.

"Cure!" Yelled Sugu.

"Well, gotta run." I said to the hanging player.

And so I ran, leaving the players life in Sugu's hands.

 _Two days later_

I walked into the cave, to PoH, his lieutenants, and a few grunts in PoH office, standing around a table with a map of the floor on it. They were all talking about something, arguing more like it. One of the lackeys said something to PoH, that caused him to draw his dagger and behead the lackey.

"Now with that taken care of, back to the topic at hand. How do we attack the Knights?" He said.

"It's not like we can kill like the Assassin. He's yet to tell us how he did it."

Everyone started talking all at once. I walked up to the table and slammed a lackeys head into it. The room went quiet.

"The answer to your question is simple. So simple, I'm surprised no one thought of it." I said.

"So enlighten us, Assassin." PoH said.

"We attack them when they least expect it." I said.

"Oh, so we wait for them to be vulnerable? How will we manage that?" Xa said.

"Like I said, we surprise them. They found the labyrinth and are looking for the boss room. Tomorrow, they're going to take a small squad of about a dozen soldiers."

"And how do you know that?" Xa said.

"Confidential Informant, just like the one you have, Xa."

"What do you suggest, kid?" PoH said.

"The road to the labyrinth goes through a choke point. There's cover and vantage points all over. I say we ambush them there." I said, pointing on the map the vantage points and the ambush site.

"Hmmm, can you confirm how many players will be there?" PoH said.

"I'll get confirmation from my contact now." I said.

"Then it's decided: We'll attack the Knights here, and Kirito will lead the ambush."

"But PoH -." Xa said.

"Thank you, PoH. I won't let you down."

 _The Next Day_

A few minutes before the Knights would arrive at the ambush, I climbed one of the vantage points and was accompanied by Kai.

"What are you doing up here?" He said.

"Preparing for the ambush." I said.

"Well we have a couple of minutes before they arrive, so I gotta know. How'd you do it, how did you kill in a safezone?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Why, we're friends aren't we? You can trust me."

"I can't tell you because I don't know how I did it."

Kai was about to say something, when the targets started arriving. Among the predicted dozen players were two people I didn't expect: Heathcliff and Asuna.

"Damn, both the commanders are here, this is not good." I said to Kai.

"But the plan could still work. We're just trying to hurt them."

The ambush had started, LC members started attacking.

"Witness me!" Said a grunt as he jumped from his vantage point at Heathcliff.

Heathcliff hit him in the stomach with his shield, and slammed him into the ground. His shield went right through the grunt, splitting him in two.

 _'Good god, he cut him in half.'_

I drew my sword and jumped towards a knight, when sudden Healthcliff, who was nearby, bashed me in the face with that damn shield of his. The force of the hit shot me through about a dozen trees to a clearing.

 _'Ugh, my head, and the ringing in my ears. I feel like I've been hit by a bus, or a train.'_

I tried to stand but I didn't have the strength, and collapsed. My vision was fuzzy and I looked up at a dark figure.

"Hello Kirito."

I was tossed across the clearing. I drew my sword ready for the next attack.

"Is it true you are every bit as deadly as the rumors say?"

My attacker dashed towards me and we clashed. I kicked him back and he came up to me, swinging. I blocked and parried the attacks, before hitting him with _Gengetsu_. In mid-air, he activated _Lighting Fall_ causing me to flip away from the electricity. Once the skill ended, I managed to rush him and get a hit off and cut his hand off. I took his sword and started my onslaught, hacking and slashing. But he was dodging them, his reflexes were superhuman, almost as fast as mine. He flipped backwards and I chased after him and then he pulled a dagger out and we clashed again.

"Who. Are. You?" I said through my teeth.

"You can call me, Shiva."

I quickly stabbed him in the stomach with one of the swords.

Shiva headbutted me and got a couple good hits off of me. I started deflecting the attack and Shiva managed to knock one of the swords out of my hand. In a desperate attempt to get him away, I activated _Senda_ and Shiva did the same, resulting in an explosion knocking us both back. Unarmed, we lunged at each other, trading blows. I grabbed his leg as he kicked me and brought my elbow down on his leg. He activated _Embracer,_ I moved before he could hit me and I threw a pick at him, and he threw a knife, cutting the pick down the middle. I threw another, and ran for my sword, centimeters away from my blade, a knife impaled my hand. I ripped the knife out and throw it back to it's sender. He slid under the knife and ran towards, I stood up and activated _Suigetsu_ , but Shiva somehow caught the roundhouse kick, then punched me hard in the throat, hard enough to nearly crush my windpipe, dropped my leg and returned the favor by activating _Suigetsu_ , knocking me out. Losing consciousness, Shiva knelt down next to me.

"As a professional courtesy, I'll keep your secret."

Everything went black. I woke up sometime later, and went back to base. PoH was not happy to see me.

"Where have you been? You disappeared during the ambush. And it was _your_ idea!" PoH yelled.

"Sorry, I was in the middle of a fight! Someone named Shiva attacked me after Heathcliff bashed me with his shield!"

"Shiva?"

"Yeah, you know him?"

"Rumors. Apparently he's been causing a lot of problems for my colleagues. Why he came after you is beyond me."

"Maybe he working for the KBO."

"No, Shiva's a lone wolf."

"How did he know about the ambush? Did someone tell him?"

"I have no idea. Who would leak the information?"

"Same person who hired the criminals to kill Sugu, and was pissed when you put me in charge of the ambush: Xa."


	5. The Stone

I tracked my target through the snowy floor, their prints in the snow starting to fade. I climbed the trees to move faster than on the ground. Mid-jump, a knife went into my shoulder causing me to almost miss a branch. I could see the target standing near a tree. I pulled the knife out and tied it to my rope and threw it at a nearby branch, jumping out of the tree and swung at the target. After kicking her back, she rushed at me with her dagger. I rolled out of the way and easily disarmed her, placing the blade against her throat.

"You're getting sloppy. You should of dipped the knife in paralysis or moved through the trees. And you're holding back." I said.

"Not all of us can be as talented as you, Kirito." Philia said taking the dagger back.

"Oh, so it's Kirito now?"

"Shut up."

"Admit it. You're warming up to me."

Before Philia could stab me like she was planning to, message icons started blinking.

 _LC Headquarters_

We walked in and every member was in the same room.

"It has come to my attention, that there is an event going on tonight. The reward is rumored to be a stone capable of reviving dead players. If the Clearer's were to get their hands on it, they could revive one of their strongest players. That cannot happen." PoH said.

"Which means all of you are to find out where the event will be happening, and stopping anyone from trying to claim the stone." Xa said, intervening. "We'll also be working along with The Pact."

"Whoever brings me the stone, will be rewarded accordingly. And if I find out one of you has information and don't come forward, I'll stick you in a room with Johnny."

The room filled with chatter from all the members.

 _'PoH's desperate to get the stone.'_

I had an idea and went to the frontlines.

"You can come out now. I know you're stalking me."

"What are you planning?" Philia said.

"Did you not hear that PoH said? He wants the stone, and I'm gonna get it for him."

"Then why come here? It looks like you maybe trying to warn to Clearers."

"What good would that do Philia?! I warn the Clearers, PoH doesn't get the stone, I end up getting killed, and Sugu dies. I knew the day I made that deal, that wouldn't be coming out this alive. I'm a dead man walking. So either help me get the stone, or get out of my way."

Philia put her hands up, walked backwards and disappeared. I equipped my mask, which help distort my voice slightly, and went into the town and found my target rather easily. What I was planning was extremely risky and very loud. I pulled my grapple and threw it at Argo and pulled her up to the building. once she was on the roof I turned her around like a human shield and put my sword against her throat.

"Hello Argo."

"Who are you?" She said in a scared voice.

"I'm shocked you don't recognize me. What was it you called me? The Hangman?"

"W-What do you want?"

"The event tonight. Where is it?"

"M-Mishe. thirty-fifth floor. But I don't know where."

"Appreciate it."

I sheathed my sword and tossed Argo off the roof. I ran towards the edge of town and jump off the building. The information from Argo narrows the search from all of Aincrad, to one floor. And with two hours left, we need to move fast.

"PoH, I've got a partial location for the event. Floor 35 near Mishe."

I went back to HQ to see if any else had any leads they needed help with. That's when Kai came up to me.

"Kirito, I need your help. I managed to capture some who knows about the event, but he's not saying anything."

We proceeded down the hall. In our torture chamber was a shirtless man, a KBO knight judging by the tattoo on his upper arm strapped to a chair.

"Who the hell are you?" He said as he lifted his head.

"Where's the location?"

"Piss off."

I chuckled, and then cracked his skull with my elbow.

"I can hurt you in ways you can't even imagine."

I grabbed his finger and ripped it off of his hand then snapped some other finger. His screams echoed throughout the cave.

"I also learned how to put them back into place... Where's the event location?"

"Go to hell!"

"Wrong answer."

I dislocated his shoulders and about 25 other bones in his body before grabbed his fingers.

"Start. Talking."

I placed my thumb on his knuckles and pulled his fingers back.

"I'll never tell you!"

"Oh, you will."

I pulled his fingers back, the farther I pulled the louder he screamed. After a while, I place his hand on the arms of the chair and bent his fingers backwards, until they were lying on the back of his hand.

 **SNAP!**

"AAAHHHHHHHHH!"

"God damn, it seems that I didn't just break your fingers, but I also snapped all five metacarpal bones in half."

The man started squirming in the chair, tears rolling down his face.

"You gonna start talking, or am I gonna have to break your other hand?"

"The Forest of Wondering, near a fir tree."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not. That's where the event is."

"Shh, it's ok. It's all over now." I said as I placed my hand on his head. **SNAP!** I spun his head 360, snapping his neck like a twig. I turned to the door and watching was a small group of LC members.

"What?... Kai, get the information _directly_ to PoH. The rest of you are coming with me."

No one objected to me giving them orders, definitely out of fear. We arrived in the Forest and I sent the group in to portal.

"Yo, who are you?" Said a familiar voice.

I looked up to see members of Fuurinkazan, Klein's guild.

"Go, Kai. I'll hold them off."

"Aren't you that Dark Assassin? You've caused a lot of grief for a lot of people." Klein said.

"You're too late. My guys are fight the bass right now." I said, placing my hand on my sword.

"And you can't stop us." Klein said, placing his hand on his katana as well.

"Then we are at an impasse."

"It seems so... We could easily overwhelm you by attacking all at once. But I have enough honor to let us settle this like men."

"What do you propose?"

"A duel to the death, just you and me. None of my guys will get involved or run into the boss area."

"Boss?" One of Klein's men said.

"Deal." I said, drawing my sword.

Klein drew his katana and lowered it to his hip, and charged up _Tsujikaze_ , while I stood and activated _Senda_ at the last possible moment. Klein charged towards and I nailed in his unkempt face, knocking him in the air.

"Impossible." Said one of Klein's guys.

I charge towards Klein as he was getting up, but he dodged out of the way and tried to swing at me but I parried it. Then Klein did something I never expected, he hit me with a low blow, before activating _Ukifune_ launching me high into the air. My head slammed into a tree branch above and landed hard on my back as I plummeted down to the ground. I rolled over onto my stomach trying to stand, and gasping for air, I ripped off my mask. The members of Fuurinkazan circled around me.

"Now, let's see who you really are."

Klein stood over me, ready to push me on my back and see my face. I looked away, then nailed him with _Senda_ , knocking him back and dropping his sword, all without showing my face. With the distance between us, I grabbed my mask once I caught my breath, while looking at the ground. Klein came running at me, activating _Senda_. I caught his fist, and squeezed it, breaking his fingers, other hand bones and making him kneel down, yelling out in pain. While still holding his hand, I grabbed his head and slammed it into my knee several times, then kneed him one last time, knocking to the ground. I started pounding his head into the ground. All of his guild members were paralyzed by my brutality of their leader. The beating stopped when I was kicked in front of a tree. Looking over, I saw Shiva kneeling next to Klein, picking him up and teleporting away along with the rest of Klein's guild. I picked myself up and waited for reinforcements or the group to to come out. But they never came. I assumed that the the team had teleported out of the So I went back to base, where everyone was gathered in the same room.

"There he is. The deserter. We got the stone, no thanks to you." Xa said.

"Is this true, kid? Did you refuse to fight the boss?" PoH said.

"I did no such thing."

"Liar! We lost five men in that fight." Xa yelled.

"What's that got to do with me?"

"PoH, if I may." Kai said. "Kirito was instrumental in the boss fight."

"What are you talking about Kai?" Xa said.

"Before we went through the portal, a guild had come. Kirito told me to go, while he tried to hold them off."

"Is this true Kirito?"

"Every word. I challenged the guild leader to a duel. But before I could finish the job, Shiva intervened and teleported the leader away."

"That's it, Xa. By trying to undermine Kirito, you've undermined me. You're done."

"But PoH!"

"Get out of my sight!"

Xa was dragged away, and the meeting was concluded. But there was something I was trying to figure out. Who was Shiva and why I'm being targeted by him.


	6. The Village

I stood on a roof in Tolbana, memories of The Cats were coming back. The place where we had the first boss meeting, was reconverted a couple of days ago, into the setting for the play of _Snow White_. I knew the performers, they were a theater guild that formed awhile back. And it just so happened that Sugu joined them, and is playing Snow White.

"She does an amazing Snow White." A voice said behind me.

"She always was good at theater." I said.

Sugu bit into the apple and fell over, pretended to be dead.

"Did you know, in the original Snow White, The Huntsman was sent to cut out her heart, so the Queen could feast on it."

"Interesting. Are you ready to meet the client?" Philia said.

"Go on ahead."

Philia left while I watched a bit more of the play.

 _15 minutes later_

As I walked into the Orange City, the city of criminals, and was approached by a guard. He told me that Talia, The Don's daughter, want someone dead. Philia was stilling waiting for me to meet her, but I really needed to decompress, so I decided to help. I made my way down to the 20th floor. Once in town, I started rooftop hopping until I was in the Area.

 _'Now, if I was hiding outside of town. Where would I hide?'_

I started walking towards the ruins of an old fort. Some of the walls were knocked down, part of the roof collapsed. All that rubble can offer some decent cover. I looked around the ruins for any places to hide. I closed my eyes and tried focusing on my surroundings, and heard the sound of rubble being moved slowly above.

"Hmmm."

Soon, the sound got louder as the person I'm hunting, dropped down and tried to attack me. I drew my sword and plunged it into his chest. He kicked off my chest and started running away. I followed after him, as he ran through the forest. He ran towards town and upon seeing the Don's men outside the town, he turned and went towards a lake.

 _'He heading to the lake, that should make things easier.'_

I grabbed a pick and threw it at him as he approached the lake. He fell to the ground paralyzed.

"Please, god, don't kill me!" He yelled.

"What exactly did you do to piss off the Don?" I said as I approached him.

I don't know. Talia told him to kill me for no reason."

"Geez, That doesn't sound like Tally at all."

"Please, I want to live."

"Fine, I'll let you live."

"Really?"

"Nope."

I picked him up and dunked him into the lake, and placed my foot on the back of his head. He couldn't even squirm since he was paralyzed. After a few minutes of baptizing him, he pixelized.

 _2 minutes later_

As I walked back, I saw a rock with a familiar symbol on it. The omega symbol. I noticed that Shiva had the same symbol on his arm. Next to the rock was a path leading towards the forest.

"I wonder."

I started walking down the path. At the end of the path was a burnt down village.

"What the hell happened here?"

I searched the village for any clues as to what happened. There were burnt down building everywhere and even a graveyard full of tombstones.

 _Robin- Loving wife, sister and friend._

 _War Jackson- Amazing friend._

 _Cutter- Loving sister and friend._

 _'Did Shiva make these tombstones? And why did the village get burned down?'_

There was a necklace around Robin's grave, I filled it up to look at the craftsmanship and noticed the engravings that I couldn't understand. I put the necklace down and went to check some of the buildings, starting with the least damaged. I carefully bashed down the door and inside was what looked to be a bedroom.

"I wonder if this was Shiva's place."

I looked around the room and noticed papers with the same writing as the necklace. I grabbed a picture of Shiva and three others, who I assumed were the three graves I saw. There was something about the picture. Shiva actually looked happy. When I first met Shiva there was pain and sorrow in his eyes.

 ** _Thud!_**

I drew my sword and turned to the door. I slowly walked out and into the middle of the village where the sound came from. In the surrounding forest, I saw something strange: Legs.

"What the?" I said as I moved towards the tree.

I looked at who the legs belonged to. A young girl unconscious on the ground. She looked around eight years old, with black hair and wearing a white dress.

"The hell?" I said kneeling down next to her, and poking her cheek.

 _'She's got a player cursor, so she's a player. But how did she survive here for so long? How long has she been in the Area?'_

I picked up the young girl and took her somewhere safe. One of my safe houses I have around Aincrad. I leveled up my _Searching_ skill to, hopefully, be able to detect Philia when she shadows me. So far, I haven't picked up anything that would indicate I'm being followed. When we arrived at the safe house, I walked into my room and laid the girl on the bed. I sat in my chair and started to think.

 _'What do I do with her? Do I send her down to the orphanage? And how would I do that? How long was she in the village?'_

I stood up and walked to the living room. I walked in circles trying to clear my head. It was after a few minutes I heard something fall. The girl was sitting up in the bed, and somehow knocked over on my endtable.

"You're awake." I said, putting the picture down and sitting on the bed. "Do you remember what happened to you?"

The girl shook her head.

"I see... How about your name?"

"N-Name... My name... Yu-i? Yui. My name... Is Yui." She said.

"Yui? That's a nice name. Do you think you can tell me why you were in the forest?"

"I dunno. I dunno anything."

"That's too bad. I don't think I told you my name, I'm Kirito."

"Ki-to?"

"It's Kirito. Ki-ri-to."

"...Ki-hi-to?"

"Yeah, it maybe a little difficult to say. How about you call me whatever feels right."

"Papa."

'She thinks I'm her father? Maybe I should play along, at least until I can find a street corner to drop her off at.'

"That's right Yui, I'm your papa."

Yui's face lit up as she jumped into my arms.

"Daddy!"

"You must be hungry, how about I make you some food."

I made her a sandwich and sat down on the couch. I picked up a newspaper and started looking for any ads of missing children. I didn't realized that Yui had fallen asleep next to me. She looked so peaceful, and I didn't want to wake her, so I slowly and carefully carried her to my room. When I went back to the living room, I saw Philia standing next to my sword and jacket on a chair.

"Where were you?" She asked.

"I got caught up in something." I replied moving closer.

"Really? So it doesn't have anything to do with that little girl?"

"Little girl?"

"Don't play stupid with me."

"So I took a little girl home. I couldn't just leave her unconscious in the cold. And I'm not gonna kill her."

"PoH has to hear about this."

"If you do that. He'll kill me, Sugu and her."

I grabbed Philia's shoulder as she went for the door, and she kicked me out the window and I just barely managed to grab my sword. I got up and deflected her attack as she lunged at me. I blocked two more attacks and roundhoused her in the head, then jumped in the air to stab her on the ground. She moved and cut my cheek with her Swordbreaker. I pulled my sword out of the ground and swung heavily at her, but she dodged with a smile on her face. Philia was feeding my angry and it was working. I got three lucky shots in, cutting her leg, arm and her cheek. I jumped over her, grabbing her hair, and threw her to the ground. Using the momentum, Philia got to her feet and made a run for it. I picked my sheath off the ground, threw it on and chased after her using the trees. Jumping branch to branch, I barely missed a knife, with a teal outline around the blade, hitting me. Philia remembered what I said, and coated her knives in paralysis. I grabbed one of them flying at me and threw it back to her, but missed. Once I was close, I tackled her and grabbed two picks and stabbed them into her hands, pinning her to the ground.

"So you're gonna kill me over a little girl you just met? You've really gone soft."

"Oh no. This has nothing to do with the girl, or even Sugu. No, this is simply self-preservation."

I strangled her as hard as I could. Philia squirmed beneath me, unable to try and break out since her hands were pinned down. She kept gagging and gasping for air and before long, she stopped and died. I stood, grabbed the picks, and with a deep breath I walked back to the house.


	7. Blacksmith

I walked into the floor graveyard, and stood in front of all the players who died on this floor. But there was one that stood out in particular.

 _Here lies_

 _Kirito_

 _Murdered_

 _October 7, 2008 - January 1, 2023_

 _Loving brother and friend_

Sugu must have made it after I disappeared. The tombstone was very right, I am dead. Now I'm something else, and there's really no going back to the way things were. I stood there for a minute, then got a message that PoH wanted to see me. Taking a deep breath, I turned around and went back to HQ.

 _Laughing Coffin HQ_

"What do you want PoH?" I said.

"We're making a move against the Blood Oath, kid. And I need my best assassin to carry it out."

"What's do you want me to do?"

"There's a blacksmith in Lindarth, goes by the name Lisbeth. I need you to kill her."

"You want me to kill VC's best friend?"

"You got a problem with that?"

"No, sir. Just verifying."

 _Lindarth_

I used the thieve's highway to move through Lindarth and towards Lisbeth's shop.

 _'Let's make this quick. Go in, kill her, get out.'_

I reached the street leading to the shop, only to see Asuna talking to Lisbeth.

"Asuna, what are you talking about?" Lisbeth asked.

"We got a tip that Laughing Coffin is going to kill you. We need to get you out of here."

"Why would they want to kill me?"

"Liz, we need to move now! If they're coming after you, they're gonna send they're best. And you know who they'll send."

 _'Who the hell tipped them off?'_

There wasn't anything I could use to swing from, and my picks are pretty much useless. I turned around and returned to HQ. Let's just say that PoH wasn't very happy.

"What do you mean you couldn't kill her?" PoH said.

"I mean, someone tipped the Blood Oath off. By the time I got there, the Vice Commander was dragging Lisbeth out of her shop."

"Damn. Who do you think tipped them off?"

"I don't know. I have some suspects, but I can't be sure."

"See if you can get to her. Maybe there's an opening you can find."

"I see what I can do."

 _The Next Day_

"Kirito, we've got something." Kai said running into my room.

"What?"

"Our informants said the Blood Oath is planning on moving Lisbeth to a safe house. They don't know where the safe house is, but they do know they're escorting her, today."

"Hmm, I might be able to get her during the escort. Depending on where the safe house is. Thanks for the info."

If the safe house is in a town or safezone. I could probably use a disguise. So I left the HQ and went back to Lindarth, but walked into a different shop.

"Welcome to Ashley's. How may I- oh damn it."

"Evening Ash." I said walking in. "I need a new jacket."

"What's wrong with the one you're wearing?"

"It's gonna stands out where I'm going."

"What type of coat do you need?"

"A white and red one with a hood."

Ashley sighed. "I'll see what I have."

She went into the back and came out with a couple pairs of jackets. I examined them, and chose one.

"That's a custom jacket. I made it based on the Knights of the Blood Oath."

"Perfect. I'll take it."

I paid for jacket and walked out. I did the cursor quest to turn my cursor green again before going to Granzam. I stood across from the Blood Oath's HQ for an hour and waited for an opportunity to make my move. I watched as sixteen soldiers escorted Lisbeth out the base and towards the teleportation gate. I followed them from the rooftops to the gate. Disguise equipped, I dropped down, followed through the teleportation gate. They went through a town of and into the Area. Something didn't really feel right. Why take her somewhere she could easily be attacked? As I walked with the Knights, I felt a chill down my spine, like something wasn't right. Then smoke circled the sky, circling around us, then went up in the air and hit the ground knocking us back. I looked up to see the thorn in my side. Shiva, kneeling on the ground where the smoke had hit. He's starting to piss me off, so I wasted no time charging at him. He stood up, blocking my attack with his sword, and kicking me back. I dodged as he attacked and stabbed him in the ribs, then cut across his chest. He retaliated by head butting me and cutting a diagonal across my chest and, using the momentum of the attack to flip the sword position from zatoichi to normal, cutting me again, forming an X. He vaulted over me, cutting up my back when he landed. I rolled forward putting some distance between us, and we both read each other's mind as we ran towards each other, activating _Senda_. But I cancelled the skill and slid under Shiva, who jumped over me, and I stood up to attack and we clashed.

"Ugh. You've... improved." He said.

"How did you know I would be here?"

"I have my ways."

We pushed our weight against each other, I reached behind me, grabbed a pick and stabbed Shiva in the stomach, paralyzing him. As much as I want to kill him, the target was getting away, so I cut off his hands and chased after Lisbeth, who was taken by a knight. I moved through the trees and managed to catch up with them. The knight tried to escape with a crystal, but I threw a pick, breaking it and paralyzing him. Lisbeth drew her mace when I dropped down and walked towards her. She swung at me, I dodged under and wrapped my arms around her throat in a sleeper hold and choked her out. Sword in hand, I lifted it above my head but stopped myself. It would be a waste to kill someone so talented, so I picked up Lisbeth's body and used a crystal to teleport directly to the HQ.

 _A few minutes later_

I stood in a room with Lisbeth tied to a chair. There was something about her, but I couldn't tell what it was. There's something beneath the surface. She groaned and lifted her head up and looked around.

"Good, you're awake." I said.

"Ugh. Where am I? Who are you?" She asked.

"My name's Kirito. And you're in the LC's HQ."

"Kirito? You're Leafa's brother. You're dead."

"Not quite. I was forced into the LC to protect Sugu. And you know what? I can see the appeal of the guild, a chance to be free, to do whatever you want."

"You're murderers."

"We're opportunist. Morte threatened Sugu, so I killed him. I want something, I take it. All those people who said you couldn't be a smith, you can just kill or torture."

"How do you know about that?"

"I know things. But I'm right aren't I? Deep, deep down you _wanted_ to kill or hurt those people, to prove them wrong, and you still do."

"I-I... Yeah, I do."

"We're giving you a choice: Work with us and be your true self, or go back to that facade you call a life, and to the people who undermined you."


End file.
